it all breaks down at role reversal
by lightningb0nes
Summary: (there's a muse in my head, and she's universal) in which Asuna Yuuki takes a fake name with her into the death trap that is SAO, and she becomes Kizuna, the highest-level solo player in the game. canon re-write in which Asuna and Kirito's roles have been swapped. AU, cross-posted to AO3.
1. the town of beginnings

The first time Asuna plays Sword Art Online, she feels… free. That's really the only way to describe it, the feeling of being able to be herself, to not worry about her father's expectations, and she wanders through the Town of Beginnings with wide eyes.

It's 20 minutes into her first time in-game when some creep puts his hands on her. She made her avatar pretty, sure, and relatively close to herself, but she had thought she wouldn't have to put up with this shit here, too- she was obviously wrong, if the feeling of hands on her hips is anything to go by. The thought hits her around ten seconds after he touches her without her permission; this isn't some man in a suit that her father wants to be on good terms with, and she's not playing the part of the perfect daughter. In here, she _doesn't_ have to put up with it.

She knocks the man flat on his ass, sword drawn and pointed at his chin (she knows they're in a safe zone, but hey, a little fear never hurts) and foot on his chest, pushing him into the ground.

"The next time you lay your hands on me, creep," she says, smiling wickedly, "will be the last time you have hands. Understood?" The man whimpers, then nods once. Asuna steps back, sheathes her sword, and brushes off the skirt of her starting outfit, looking around for the nearest clothing shop.

Later, when she's traded out the dusky rose shirt and grey skirt of the starting outfit for a long-sleeved black shirt, grey pants that are baggy, but still comfortable, and the best armor she could afford, she feels much more comfortable. Her avatar's hair is the most stark difference between it and her, with her avatar's hair being cut to the chin and dark brown, rather than her own strawberry-blonde hair that reaches her mid-back. _I looks like a badass_ , she thinks with a grin as she walks down the street, towards the fields that hold low-level enemies.

She racks up a little EXP killing boars, just getting used to her sword skills and the controls, easy and relaxed. She heads further out, trying to find something a bit more challenging, when she comes across the brown-haired girl struggling with a boar.

Asuna hits it with a pebble to get it to scatter, walking up behind the girl, who's willowy with long brown hair. "Y'know, it's a lot easier to hit things if you actually use your sword skills," she says, because it's _really_ fun to not have to worry about being nice and polite all the time.

The girl scowls at her, brushing off her outfit as she stands. "I don't know _how_ ," she complains, and Asuna raises an eyebrow. "Look, I just want to make it to the next town so I can start leveling my blacksmithing skills! That's all I'm really here for," she explains, and Asuna nods. "Who're you, anyways?" the other girl asks, and Asuna sticks out her hand for the girl to shake.

"Kizuna," she introduces, the thrill of using the alternate name running through her. _Kizuna,_ a name that means _creation, beginnings, bonds_. Pretty, simple enough, and meaningful.

The girl accepts her handshake, has one _hell_ of a firm grip, Asuna realizes with a grin. "Lisbeth," she other player introduces, and despite her earlier complaints, there's a fire in her eyes. "So, are you gonna teach me to kill this thing or not, Kizuna?" She asks, and Asuna huffs a laugh, drawing her sword.

"I suppose even smiths have to be able to kill boars," she says, stepping into the fighting stance. "Fighting here is all about sword skills- to activate them, you just draw that very first action out," Asuna explains, readying her sword. She holds it at her back until she feels the shiver in the blade and sees the telltale glow in the corner of her eye. "Once it's activated, you release, and…" she darts forwards, slashing at the boar and grinning again at the EXP window.

"Right," Lisbeth says with a firm nod, and she readies her own weapon- a small hammer- taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. She opens her eyes as her weapon begins to glow, and she charges the boar with a shout. It takes her a few hits, but she kills it, and Lisbeth beams at Asuna when she succeeds.

They spend a few hours killing time and grinding for EXP, and both of them make Level 3 by early evening. Lisbeth stretches, and yawns, summoning her menu.

"Time for me to go eat," she explains, before pausing, finger hovering in the air. "Hey, Kizuna?"

"What's up?"

"Not to sound like a total noob, but… where's the logout button?" Lisbeth asks, and Asuna can't help but roll her eyes a little.

"It's in the menu, right… here," she says, frowning at her own menu, where the logout button should be. It's there, and she can click on it, but nothing happens, and there's no text or anything. It's just… blank. "Huh, weird. Pretty big glitch, but I guess the servers must be pretty stressed with all the new players," she says, biting her lip. "You try calling a gamemaster?"

"Twice," Lisbeth replies, frowning. "No pickup. Crap, I really need to go, I promised mom I'd be done before dinner," she says, and Asuna is opening her mouth to reply when it happens.

Asuna has never teleported in-game before, and the sensation is a little weird, like pins and needles. They reappear in the square of the Town of Beginnings, and Asuna immediately pulls Lisbeth to her back, so they're standing back to back. The town is a safe zone, but forced teleportation isn't supposed to happen in-game either.

When Kayaba Akihiko tells them all his plans and drops mirrors into their inventories, Asuna hates the swell of relief in her chest. No getting out means no dealing with her father, with her family's expectations, it means being _herself_ for more than just a few hours a day.

When she uses the mirror, she's less ecstatic. She's taller, more slender, and her hair is long, strawberry blonde, and loose around her shoulders again, and Lisbeth is shorter, stockier, with a curly bob and freckles.

"I'm going to the next town, starting my blacksmith training," Lisbeth says quietly, and her voice is _just_ deeper than it was before, and panic begins to swell in the players around them. "Are you coming?"

Asuna shakes her head, looking out across the square. "No, but I'll check in- you're on my friends list, now, so I can find you when I need a new weapon," she says, and Lisbeth gives her a shaky grin.

"You'd better," she says, and that's when they part ways.

Later, it's night, and Asuna is racing through a field, killing any low-level monsters in her path, and that's when she decides it. _I will not give up this chance_ , she thinks, striking down a wolf-like creature, _I will not let Kizuna's new life be taken from me._

And that's how it begins. With a girl dressed in black, running wild through the fields of Aincrad, sword in hand, determination sharp on her face. It begins with a boy in white and a boy in reds and yellows teaming up, with a girl starting her blacksmith training, with another girl taming her first creature, with a man called Heathcliff starting a guild. It begins, in Asuna's mind, with an opportunity- one she plans to take advantage of.


	2. fated meeting

She meets Kazuto two months into the game. She's brushing level 15, and there's a meeting for those who are interested in fighting the floor boss. They've _finally_ found it, although the fact that it took them this long even with beta testers helping makes Asuna wonder who the hell is running things around here.

She freezes when Diabel tells them they'll need to party up, because she's still a solo player- Asuna helps Lisbeth with the occasional supply run, but other than that, she keeps to herself. She doesn't _like_ the risk that comes with getting too attached, how exhausting other people can be. Asuna is an introvert by nature, and with the risk of all of your in-game loved ones dying, she's been kind of avoidant when it comes to other players.

Well, that, and gamers can be absolute _assholes_ when they see a pretty girl, and Asuna has just about had it of people assuming she needs basic strategy explained to her.

"You get left out too?" A voice asks, and when she turns, it's a slight, dark-haired boy dressed in whites and blues.

"No," she replies, and she winces at how much of a lie that sounds like. "I'm kind of a solo player," she says, and the boy frowns at her.

"Well, my usual party is splitting up to help lower-level players, and I got left out, so want to party up?" He offers, and although she's kind of offended at the implication that she's low level, she nods.

 _Kazuto sent you a party request!_ Pops up in front of her on her interface, and she reluctantly taps the accept symbol. "Kazuto, huh?" she says, and he nods.

"Nice to meet you, Kizuna," he says, smiling, and she nods at him.

Diabel releases them, and she leaves Kazuto with a brisk nod and little else. She feels a little mean, being so cold, but she doesn't trust easy; Liz is basically the only close friend she has in this entire game, and they bonded over shared snarkiness and their habit of being overly honest.

Later, she's eating tough, kind of dry bread, alone on a bench, because she is the epitome of being a loner. She shifts away when Kazuto sits next to her, pulling out his own bread, and sighing when he bites into it.

"Isn't this stuff amazing?" He sighs, and Asuna raises an eyebrow. He looks over and laughs, retrieving another item from his inventory- she recognizes it as an item she got from a quest and then sold, deeming it unnecessary. "Here, this stuff makes it way better," he says, gesturing to it.

She taps it hesitantly, and drags her glowing finger over her bread. "Is this… cream?" she asks, taking a hesitant bite, and Kazuto nods, the item breaking as he puts some on his own bread.

"Got it from the-"

"Heifer Strikes Back quest, I know," she says quietly, digging into the bread. She _really_ regrets selling hers, if she could have had this eating would have been so much better, if just for a little bit. "I sold it, though, I don't really see the point in having good food if we aren't actually eating it," she says, and Kazuto hums, taking another bite.

"I think it helps you stay yourself," he says eventually, and Asuna turns to look at him fully. "Like, even if you're out and exploring, you can get a little… lost, and you start to just fade. If you look at the Town of Beginnings, you see all these people just drifting, rotting away," he continues. "But good food helps, I think, keep you yourself. It's something to put effort into that's not fighting and monsters, y'know?"

For the first time in the last two months, Asuna doesn't know what to say.

She wants to ask what his cooking skill is, she wants to ask how he came to that conclusion, she wants to ask how he can stand being around other players constantly. Instead, she just sits there in silence, and Kazuto stands and stretches.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow at 10 for the raid, Kizuna," he says, and she nods, watching him go. She's left sitting on the bench, and she hates how unfamiliar the weight of hope is as it settles in her chest.

The raid comes far too slowly, and when 10 AM comes, she's raring to go. She walks alongside Kazuto, and does her best to ignore everyone else as Kazuto goes over the plan.

"So one of us knocks the weapon away," he says, and he sounds kind of like he's explaining this to a five year old and it pisses her off, because she's _just as good as he is_ , if not better.

"Then the other attacks, so rinse, repeat, victory," she says, harshly, and Kazuto stops walking and just sort of stares at her. "Look, I get it, you were probably a Beta tester and are used to being better than everyone at this, but I'm not so much of a rookie that I need basic strategy explained to me."

"My mistake," Kazuto says, and the way he's looking at her now is more calculating, more considering.

"You're looking at me as an opponent, now, instead of someone to teach" Asuna says, turning and walking away. "Good."

Kazuto jogs a little to catch up with her, falling into step next to her. "Not an opponent," he corrects, grinning, "but one hell of an ally."

For the second time in far too short of a span, Kazuto leaves her without a response; and Asuna has to admit, she's not sure if she likes it or not.

They spend the rest of the walk in silence, and make their way to the boss room of the dungeon with relative ease. Diabel has them stop, to rest and eat and heal up, and Asuna double checks all of her armor and her sword, making sure that there's nothing that could possibly go wrong. "You ready?" she asks Kazuto, and he smiles, all self-assured and confident and _god_ , Asuna kind of hates him.

"Always," he says, and Diabel pushes open the door to the boss room.

* * *

 **a/n: hi i changed kirito's name to kazuto because it works better! ty for reading 3**


	3. illfang the kobold lord

She's read the Beta guide more times than she can count. Asuna has her pride, but even she's not above free (not to mention useful) information about the lower floors, so she knows the general attack patterns for the boss. The minions aren't necessarily hard, and she's racking up EXP relatively fast, but there's a nagging worry in the back of her mind- something about the way Diabel's commanding. Kazuto and Asuna are supposed to be protecting him, but he keeps darting out to kill monsters, putting himself, the commander, at risk.

When the Kobold Lord changes weapons, Diabel charges forwards, and she realizes. "He's trying to get the last attack bonus," she hisses, and Kazuto's eyes go wide.

"Diabel, wait, that's not a-" He starts, but then Diabel's on the ground, Kazuto rushing to his side. Asuna takes a step back, readjusting her footing and her strategy. Kazuto comes back to her side, face grim, and begins speaking. "We use the same attack strategy that we did with the minions," he says, and for once, Asuna doesn't complain about him giving her orders.

"Got it," she says, readying her sword.

She hates to admit it, but she and Kazuto make a good team; they're both fast, one-handed sword users, and they're both doing a fair amount of damage.

Kazuto gets knocked back, and yells "switch!" one last time, so Asuna darts in, dropping to her knees and sliding underneath a sword strike from Illfang, before darting up and hitting it as many times as she can.

The beast dies, and she drops to the ground, standing and sheathing her sword. The congratulatory music plays, and a small screen pops up- the bonus item for the last hit, a long coat called the 'Coat of Midnight'.

When Kazuto gets into an argument with the same jerk who tried to call out Beta Testers, she stands quietly, not getting involved, until-

"She's probably a Beta Cheater just like you!" the man cries, and that's when she decides- she doesn't _need_ this bullshit, and if making herself a target takes the heat away from the Beta testers, that's what she's going to do.

So she laughs. Cold and loud, she lets her laughter echo through the chamber as she takes three quick steps forwards, grabbing her accuser by the front of his coat.

"Me, a Beater?" she sneers, making sure to get in his face. "You've got to be kidding me," she continues, dropping him, "those losers are hardly on the same level as someone like _me_ , so I wouldn't compare us again."

She turns and stalks towards the doors, ignoring the yells and jeers of the people behind her. She slips on the Coat of Midnight, and turns to look over her shoulder, summoning up the best glare she can manage. "Compared to _those_ idiots, you could call me a god…" she pauses, flipping her hair for dramatic effect. "Or, no, maybe a _demon_ is more accurate," she says, and _boy_ is she glad her dad had her take acting classes in school.

"A demon, that's right!" someone says, and she's about to leave when she feels a hand around her wrist.

"What do you _want_ ," she hisses, and Kazuto looks up at her with wide black eyes.

"If you ever need a party to join, come find me," he says quietly, before reaching up and tapping a few buttons in his interface. His name fades from her screen, the party dissolved.

"Take care of yourself," she says begrudgingly, before leaving the room.

Two weeks later, she hears whispers of a 'Black Demon Queen' and a 'Midnight Demoness' scattered through the town she's in, and she snickers to herself.

"Something funny, Ki?" Liz asks, and Asuna shakes her head, pulling the coat closer around her. The blacksmith sighs, tossing her newly-dyed pink curls and leaning down to inspect an item. "It's so ridiculous, all these stupid anime titles they're giving people," she says, and Asuna hums in agreement. "Guild names are just as bad, too, like that stupid K.o.B one that's just started- where do they get off, calling themselves the 'Knights of the Blood Oath'," Lisbeth mocks, and Asuna snorts, elbowing her.

"Careful, the _Blood Oath Knights_ might come after you if you keep talking like that," she says, leaning to fiddle with a few pieces of cookware, looking up at the stall's owner. "How much for this set?" she asks, whistling at the answer.

"What's got you so interested in cooking?" Liz asks, and Asuna just hums again, not answering. "Did you eat something really good while you were away on that boss mission?" she asks, and Asuna nods.

"Something like that," she says, looking back up at the NPC stall owner. "I'll take these, then," she says, nodding once she sees it in her inventory. "I mean, if we have to live here, we might as well be able to eat good food, right?"

"I suppose," Liz muses, tapping her heels on the cobblestone. "You want to head back to my place and try out your new stuff then?" She asks, and Asuna shoves the other girl, smiling.

"You just want free food, you glutton," she replies, and Lisbeth just laughs at her, taking a few steps forwards without her. The blacksmith giggles and turns back to face her companion, still giggling. "I suppose I can do you the honor of cooking for you, but my skill isn't very high yet, so you've been warned," Asuna says, and Lisbeth just laughs, bright and clear.

Maybe it's the aftermath of the victory, or her new reputation, or just having a real friend, but Asuna is _happy_ with how things are going for her. She likes being Kizuna, the Demon Queen, much better than she liked being Asuna Yuuki, perfect porcelain daughter, and she feels _free_ , even though she's trapped in the game.

So she pushes the thoughts of her father out of her head and follows after Lisbeth, a smile wide on her face and her Coat of Midnight swishing around her ankles.


	4. the beast tamer

Asuna meets Silica while she's on a supply run for Liz, hunting down a beast so Liz can have the supplies to up her leatherworking skills. It's been sixteen months, and Asuna's 16th birthday came and went with little celebration; she tells people Kizuna's birthday is in June, a few months before her actual birthday.

There's a specific monster that has a good chance of dropping the right materials for leatherworking, some sort of gorilla, so Asuna is kind of just wandering through the woods, waiting for one to stumble into her path. That's how she finds Silica- she steps into a clearing and kills three of the beasts, revealing the small girl hunched over a feather on the ground and sobbing.

"Hey, uh, are you alright?" Asuna asks, because she's not _heartless_ , and this kid can't be more than 12, and she's in the middle of the forest and crying.

"P-Pina," is all the girl manages to get out, so Asuna crouches down next to her and pats her on the back, trying to be comforting. "S-she flew in front of them for me!" the girl sobs, and Asuna internally sighs in relief that she's talking about a creature, not a person.

"You're a Beast Tamer, then," Asuna says, looking over the girl with an appraising eye. "I'm sorry about your friend," she adds, and then the girl throws herself into Asuna, clinging to her as she cries. Asuna stiffens, but lets the girl cling to her, and reaches over and taps the feather curiously.

 _Pina's Heart_ , the display reads, and Asuna shakes the girl's shoulder softly and gestures to it. "Hey, kid, your pet might not be gone forever," she says, and the girl's eyes widen.

"Really!?" The girl asks, watery eyes so wide and hopeful that Asuna winces a little, because helping her is _such a bad idea_. She's supposed to be getting materials for Liz, and there's a bounty on the leader of Titan's hand that some poor sap on the front lines had practically begged her to take.

"Look, I'll walk you back to town, and you can explain what you were doing out here all by yourself, and we can talk about getting Pina back," Asuna says, helping the girl up. "I'm Kizuna," she introduces, and the girl brushes off her skirt and wipes her eyes, clutching Pina's Heart close to her chest.

"Silica," she introduces, and Asuna puts a hand on her shoulder and leads her back towards town.

Asuna is only supposed to be off the front lines, so she convinces Silica that the hill of memories is best tackled tomorrow.

"Oh, _Silica_ , darling!" A voice calls out, and it's a tall, redheaded woman who matches the Titan's Hand leader's description perfectly, and Asuna doesn't miss the way Silica stiffens at the woman's voice. Asuna goes to red alert, hand on her rapier even though they're in a safe zone, and Silica bites her lip.

"Oh, hi, Rosalia," she says unenthusiastically, and that's a match for the leader's name.

"Found some other wily woman to follow you around and prey on your scraps, huh?" Rosalia asks, leering at Asuna, and Asuna just gives Rosalia her best icy smile.

"That is- that is so not true! Ugh, you're so awful," Silica says, and Rosalia just smirks.

"Come on, Silica," Asuna says, turning on her heel and pulling the younger girl with her, tone allowing no room for protest. She's got her mark, and using Silica as bait seems kind of ruthless, but then again, that's sort of her thing.

Asuna goes to her own room, but after ten minute's she's worried enough about Silica that she's pacing. She knew Titan's Hand was bad, as bad as any other orange guild, but marking a 12 year old girl is a new kind of low, even for them. Asuna feels bad, using Silica as bait, but she does have every intention of helping the beast-tamer get her pet back.

Asuna has spent months on the front lines, fighting her way through dungeons and boss fights alone, even when there's dozens of other guilds fighting alongside her. She sees Kazuto often- he's refused to give up his whites and blues, even joining the Knights of Blood Oath, so he stands out as he works his way up through their ranks. Rumors say he's going to make second in command to Heathcliff by a year and a half. But the man who had begged her for help had stayed and fought just so he could ask for, and she had seen Blood Oath players _laughing_ at him, while their commanders did nothing. So she took the quest, and if it happens to coincide with running errands for Liz and helping Silica, so be it.

She's always been a loner, and Lisbeth gets that, backs off when Asuna needs her to. Silica seems clingy, and a little spoilt, but she's determined and Asuna has never had a little sister, but she thinks this is what having one might feel like.

So Asuna swallows her pride and heads to Silica's room to discuss strategies, but there's something off. She shushes Silica and cuts the lights, focusing on listening, and- _there_. Asuna darts through the door and into the hallway, growling with frustration when she sees the shadowy figure drop down the stairwell, too fast for Asuna to bother chasing.

"Eavesdroppers," she explains to Silica, who just looks confused. "If you have a high enough listening skill, you can listen through doors without knocking," she continues, casting a dark look to where the figure had been. "Someone was listening to us."

"Who would want to eavesdrop on us, Kizuna-san?" Silica asks, and _god_ , Asuna isn't sure how this girl has lasted this long with her innocence intact. Maybe it's just the front lines that are scarring, but something about Asuna feels _heavy_ , pull tight at the seams, like she'll split apart any second, and Silica is somehow so bright and innocent, despite the awful world they're stuck in.

"I don't know, kiddo," she lies, and then they return to Silica's room to plan.

The Hill of Memories is gorgeous all year round, a perpetual meadow of summer that Asuna doesn't mind, it's just that finding a quiet spot can be a little hard, because of all the…

"C-couples!?" Silica squeaks, her face bright red, and Asuna covers a sigh, starting towards the path that leads towards the flowers.

"Yes, couples, it's very popular for dates," Asuna says, and a part of her still wonders how people manage to _date_ and get married in this hellish game. She's about to continue when she hears Silica's scream, whipping out her rapier to see the younger girl suspended in mid-air, flailing.

"Use your knife!" Asuna yells, exasperated.

Silica, despite all appearances, is very skilled, if easily flustered. She's handy with her knife, and they manage to make the quest in good time. Silica looks delighted at the flower, and Asuna allows a smile, ruffling the girl's hair.

"We did it, Kizuna-san!" Silica cheers, looping her arm through Asuna's, and Asuna doesn't pull away, no matter how much she wants to.

"We sure did," she says as warmly as she can, because she knows that Titan's Hand is waiting on the way back, and Silica will find out that Asuna used her as bait at any second.

There's movement behind a tree, and Asuna rolls her eyes, because honestly, where else would an ambush hide than in the conveniently placed ground of trees? So she draws her rapier and calls out, as lazily as she can, "I know you're there." There's more rustling, and then laughter, and Asuna readies herself for a fight.


	5. titan's hand

"You need to stay back," is the first thing Asuna says to Silica, putting out a hand to stop her from moving forwards, "and keep your teleport crystal ready." Asuna turns towards the tree, and grins, unsheathing her rapier. "Hello, Rosalia."

The redhead laughs, stepping out from behind the tree. "Wow, your perception skill must be pretty high for you to have seen me, _Kizuna-san_ ," Rosalia says, mockingly.

"Or maybe, I'm just smart enough to figure out that the ambush must be hiding behind a bunch of trees," Asuna replies in her best bored voice, and Rosalia sneers at her.

"R-rosalia? What are you doing here?" Silica asks, and Rosalia _cackles_ , a wannabe-villain if Asuna's ever seen one. "Kizuna-san, why is she here?" Silica asks again, panic rising in her voice, and Asuna turns just slightly to give her the most comforting look she can.

"We want the Pneuma Flower, obviously," Rosalia says, sneering at the young girl. "Hand it over, Silica, and no one has to get hurt."

"Look, Silica, she likes playing the bad guy because she's probably a pushover in real life," Asuna interrupts, "and you're not giving her a damn _thing_ if I have anything to say about it."

"Pity you don't be getting to it," Rosalia says, pityingly, before snapping. A group of goons step out from behind the trees, and Silica makes a noise that's halfway between a growl and a whimper. "We've got you and your low-level bodyguard bitch outnumbered, Silica, so just give it up!"

"See, here's the thing, Roz," Asuna says, putting her sword away and pulling out the giant crystal the man had given her. "You, leader of the orange guild Titan's Hand, got some poor soul's party killed, and he was the only survivor. So he spends all his money on this-" she gestures to the crystal "-and fights on the front lines, begging soldiers for _months_ to come after you. So we can do this the easy way, where you give up and we don't fight, or we can do this the hard way, and you can go to prison with your health bar in the red."

"You're all talk, Kizuna," Rosalia says, and Asuna sees one of her lackeys start.

"Wait, Kizuna?" He asks, eyes wide, and Asuna gives him the most sickly sweet grin she has in her arsenal. "Boss, that's- that's the _Demon Queen Kizuna_ , boss!" he says, and a few of the other lackeys take steps back as she puts the crystal away and draws her sword.

"The what?" Rosalia scoffs, rolling her eyes. "If she was really this Demon Queen, she wouldn't be wandering around with a low-level beast tamer on floor 47," she scoffs, and Asuna shrugs. "Now are you just going to stand around complimenting her, or are you going to do your jobs?"

The men charge. Asuna takes the hits, and it takes a lot of effort not to flinch at every blade that slashes at her. She keeps an eye on her health gage, watching as it blips back up every few seconds. The attacks soon come to a stop, and she twirls her rapier in her hand once.

"See, funny thing about SAO," she says, raising her rapier and pretending to inspect the blade, "get to a high enough level, and your wounds heal faster than low-level orange guild lackeys like you can make them!" She lets her player information go public, hovering above her head, and she watches as a few of the guild members just _run_. "One thing you didn't account for, Roz," she continues, "you might have more fighters? But my numbers are better than yours," she continues, and she grins when Rosalia draws her halberd.

"I-if you hurt me, you'll go orange," She says, a last ditch attempt to get Asuna to back off.

Asuna darts forwards, rapier scraping past Rosalia's face and leaving the red mark that signals injury. Asuna's cursor turns orange as she pushes the crystal onto Rosalia and activates it, looking the other woman in the eyes as she does. "Don't _really_ care," she says, watching as Rosalia teleports away.

"Oh my god _,_ " Silica says, and Asuna turns, hands up as she opens her mouth to explain herself, but she finds herself cut off my a loud screech from Silica. "Oh my _god_!"

"Um," Asuna says, and Silica pats herself harshly on the cheeks twice.

"You're the _Demon Queen_ ," Silica says, less of a question and more of an accusation.

"If that's what people are calling me nowadays," she says, and Silica's eyes are the size of dinner plates.

"You're so _cool!_ " She squeals after a long pause, and it's like there's a weight lifted off of Asuna's chest. Silica chatters on about anything and everything, from how excited she is to see Pina to how amazing the fight between Rosalia and Asuna was, and Asuna takes a second to message Liz and the man who gave her the job. He offers another reward, and Asuna brushes him off with a message about how his thanks are enough.

Even if it wasn't, the look on Silica's face when she brings Pina back to life is.

Asuna has to go back to the front lines, she knows that she's needed there, but she wants to savor this just a little more. She doesn't want to take Silica's name off of her friends list, so she tells the younger girl about Liz's shop, newly opened on floor 48.

"If you tell her I sent you, she'll at least be nicer to you," Asuna says, and Silica looks so genuinely thankful that it _hurts_.

"Thank you so much, Kizuna-san," she whispers, and Asuna doesn't even bother trying to dodge the hug this time. Instead, she hugs back, the first full-on contact she's had since the game started. Silica is warm in her arms, and the feeling reminds Asuna just how much she _misses_ people, misses not being a soldier, misses being a teenage girl. She never thought she would ever end up being touched starved, with how often she was trying to get people to stop touching her, so she drinks up the hug the best she can before she has to go.

"If you need me, just call," Asuna says before she leaves, and Silica smiles up at her and nods, Pina perched on her shoulder.

"And if you ever need my help, I owe you one, Kizuna-san!" Silica says with enough confidence that it's charming. She laughs, ruffles the younger girl's hair and turns to leave, pausing before Silica can close the door.

"Silica?" Asuna says, pausing.

"Yes, Kizuna-san?" the girl replies, and Asuna smiles, looking down at the floor and scuffing it with her boot.

"You can drop the -san, I really don't care," she says, pausing again. "...if you wanted, you could call me Kizuna-nee," she says, and she braces herself for the tackle-hug that Silica is bound to bombard her with.

When she isn't tackled, she turns, only to see Silica's eyes welling up with tears as she stares at Asuna, hands clasped over her mouth.

This time, it's Asuna who initiates the hug.


	6. commander kazuto

It's Aincrad's equivalent to summer, and Asuna is miserable. She wants to lie outside in the sun, to spend time in the apartment she saved for _months_ to afford, but instead, she's on the frontlines, picking holes in Kazuto and Heathcliff's strategies.

"You should draw the boss to the village," she says, drawing her fingers along the map and showing the route. "It attacks the NPCs, and we attack it while it's distracted," she explains, and Kazuto's gaze hardens.

"Absolutely not," he says, and Asuna frowns. "We don't just sacrifice _people_ , Kizuna," he says, and Asuna's frown deepens to a scowl.

"They're not _people_ , and they don't _really_ die," she says, slamming a hand down on the map. "You _know_ that, Kazuto, and you know that they respawn, so I don't know why you're so determined to protect them over your own troops!"

Kazuto looks angrier than Asuna has ever seen him, which is really saying something, because she's had a knack for pissing him off ever since he became Heathcliff's number two.

"We'll figure something else out," he says, glaring at her, "and you will do well to remember that I am the second in command of the Knights of Blood Oath, and remember that no matter what people call you, you are not a Queen who can hand out commands," he says, and Asuna sees red.

"I am not part of your guild, Kazuto, and I do _not_ take orders from you," she bites out, glaring, "and I'd rather be a demon queen than someone who's willing to sacrifice real people in order to save a bunch of ones and zeroes!" she shouts, and then she turns on her heel and leaves.

As she walks through the fields of Danac, a settlement on the 59th floor, she calms down, but there's still some bubbling resentment towards Kazuto. When they had met, all he had wanted was to help people, to make sure lower-level players didn't get hurt in dungeons or going up against boss battles. Now, the stakes are higher, she supposes, but he's quickly turning into a tyrant without logic or reason- he _knows_ NPCs are sacrificable, and she doesn't understand what his _problem_ is. Ever since his smaller guild had merged with Heathcliff's, forming the Knights, Kazuto's been different, and apparently everything Asuna does pisses him off.

It's been a few hours since the raid meeting, and she kind of wants to go and find them so they can talk about whatever their issue is in _private_ , instead of in front of the raid party, but it turns out she doesn't have to look far- she trips over him where he's laying underneath a tree, basking in the sunlight.

"What the _hell_ ," she says, rubbing her head, "are you doing here?"

Kazuto flushes, brushing grass off of his pristine white-and-blue K.o.B uniform. "...it's the optimal weather settings today," he says eventually, and Asuna stares for a few moments before bursting into laughter. "Wh- it's not funny, why are you laughing?" He asks, and Asuna just laughs more, bright and happy.

"You are such a dork!" She eventually manages to get out, and Kazuto's scowl only deepens. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but I- you realize people see you as this big scary commander, right? But you, you're lying in the sun because the weather is good, and you're really not like that at all, are you?" She says, watching Kazuto's face flush even more.

Kazuto looks away, embarrassment clear on his face. "Maybe people wouldn't be so scared of you if you did things like this," he says quietly, and Asuna's laughter dies off. She stops, thinking for a moment, before unequipping her coat and her sword, laying down on the grass.

"Okay then," she says, shutting her eyes and stretching, "I'm going to relax here for a bit then, if you're cool to share your spot, Commander Kazuto?" She asks, opening one eye to look at him, and he's glaring at her again, but it's not like the heated arguments they have over strategy. Something about the tone has shifted, and it's still heated, but less… accusatory. They sound less like soldiers, and more like teenagers bickering, and Asuna likes it.

"Oh, do whatever you want, your _highness_ ," Kazuto huffs, but there's a smile in his voice as Asuna slides her eyes shut.

A few minutes later, she opens her eyes and looks over at Kazuto, who's snoring softly on the ground. "Of course," Asuna mutters, sitting up and looking down at the boy.

His face looks softer, all the hard edges she sees during battles worn down into someone who looks even younger than her. Asuna re-equips her sword and coat, leans back against the tree, and keeps watch as Kazuto sleeps.

 _It's the least I can do_ , she thinks, glaring at the few players who look their way as they pass. She even goes as far to bare her teeth at the few that linger, eyes on her, eyes on Kazuto, and there's something pulling in her stomach that she vaguely acknowledges as the need to _protect_.

By the time the sun is low on the horizon, skies streaked with red, the heat isn't unbearable, but pleasant, and Asuna is content, watching over Kazuto as the time ticks past. Eventually, he stirs, early evening light casting dark shadows on his face as he rises, and Asuna grins.

"Morning, Commander," she says, and then Kazuto is jerking away and his sword is at her throat. Asuna raises her hands in an act of surrender, raising an eyebrow as Kazuto lowers his sword and flounders.

Asuna cuts through his stuttering with a hand on his shoulder and her best attempt at a light hearted grin. "How about instead of stuttering through an apology, you take me out for dinner and we can talk there? Y'know, you do owe me for watching out for you during your power-nap," she says, watching Kazuto's expressions carefully.

Kazuto puts his face in his hands, peeking out at Asuna with a barely concealed smile on his face. "You know, I like hanging out with you a lot more when we're not arguing, Kizuna," he says, and Asuna sighs.

"Me too, Kazuto," she says, standing and reaching down to help the other player up. "Come on, Commander, we've got things to talk about."


	7. the death in the safe-zone part one

Kazuto takes her to an NPC run restaurant in Marten, the capital of the 57th floor, and once they've ordered and are sitting across from each other, he leans forwards expectantly

"You said you wanted to talk, Kizuna," he says, "so talk."

Asuna takes a thoughtful sip of her drink, watching Kazuto carefully. She puts her cup down and leans back, before saying, "Why don't you wear your guild's colors, Commander?"

"Vice-commander," Kazuto reminds her, frowning. "Also, what?" he asks, eyebrows raised, and Asuna frowns at him.

"You heard me," she continues, "Why don't you wear red and white instead of blue and white? You're the second in command of one of the best guilds in the game, shouldn't you be representing that with more than a tiny symbol on your armor?" She asks, gesturing to where there's a cross etched into his chestplate.

Kazuto is silent for a long moment, eyes downcast. "Blue is my sister's favorite color," he eventually says, voice soft. "It helps me stay myself, knowing I have at least this small part of her with me."

 _I think it helps you stay yourself._ Asuna remembers the first floor, the boss, the way they worked together so well. She remembers the easygoing boy she had met, who had been so determined to help others, and her chest feels tight- she sighs quietly. She wouldn't ever admit it to his face, but she _misses_ that Kazuto, the one who had looked at her like she was a real competitor in this game, the one who had been so willing to part with his friends if just to help other players.

"How did we get to this?" She asks, and Kazuto looks up at her, confusion written across his features. "We got along so well, back when this all started, remember?"

"We shared that bread," he replies, smiling at her. "But… we went our separate ways, Kizuna, and you know I have responsibilities to my guild, to clearing this game," Kazuto says, and he looks so genuinely forlorn at that statement that it makes Asuna grit her teeth to stop from being upset.

"Kazuto, you-" Asuna starts, but she's cut off by a loud scream. A quick glance at Kazuto is all she spares time for before rushing towards the source of the scream, the town square. She's fast, with her AGI skill almost maxed out, and she gets there before Kirito to see a man hanging from a noose that's attached to the clock tower. There's a lance sticking out of his chest, dark red metal stark against his white armor, and he's getting a lot of attention from the crowd.

"Poor bastard," Asuna says as Kazuto catches up, looking up at the man in horror. "Kazuto, I'm going to go cut him down- he's just suffering, stuck up there. Run some crowd control, will you, Commander?" she says over her shoulder as she turns and starts heading up the stairs. She's almost three-quarters of the way up when she hears the scream, so she sprints the rest of the way and looks over the ledge of the tower to see the sword on the ground and the man nowhere in sight. There's an inconsolable player standing near Kazuto, who's doing his best to calm the crowd, so Asuna makes the jump out of the tower and takes the few points of fall damage to save time, wincing when she hits the ground.

Her landing seems to stun some of the players into submission, and the movement she makes when she equips her sword convinces the rest of the crowd to scramble pretty fast. She moves over to Kazuto and the sobbing player, and her brain starts to catch up as she wonders how the _hell_ someone died in a safe zone.

"H-h-he's dead!" The player next to Kazuto sobs, and Asuna focuses on their Player ID, sighing in relief to see they're a green player who is apparently named _Yoruko_.

"Listen, m'am- sir? I'm sorry, I don't really know how to address you," Kazuto says, and Asuna wants to smack him, but he barrels on anyways, "Yoruko-san, did you know that player?"

"T-t-that was my b-b-boyfriend, C-Caynz," they stutter, "h-he was the o-o-only one w-who _understood!_ " she cries, and then she throws herself into Kazuto's arms to sob. Kazuto turns and looks at her, mouthing _please help me_ , and Asuna shrugs helplessly back at him.

"Listen, Yoruko, you need to come with us," Asuna says quietly, and she puts her hands on Kazuto's shoulders and steers both him and the sobbing player to the nearest inn.

She eventually manages to calm Yoruko down enough so that they can have a conversation, and she sits across from the player as Kazuto stands guard near the door. "Yoruko-san," Asuna says quietly, "my name is Kizuna. This is Kazuto, who wasn't trying to be rude earlier, but we don't want to mess up and would like to know what pronouns you prefer," she says, just like Lisbeth had taught her to. When her best friend had came out to her, Asuna had responded with her real life name, which she's only ever told the blacksmith.

"Why are you telling me?" Lisbeth had asked, and Asuna had bumped her shoulder against the other girl's, smiling softly.

"If you can trust me with something as important to you as this, I can trust you with my name," Asuna replied, and that had been the end of that.

Thankfully, Lisbeth's instructions on how to ask that sort of thing seem to be working, because Yoruko looks grateful, if a little stunned. "N-no one in-game has never asked before," they say quietly, "but I use she-her pronouns. Thank you, Kizuna-san," Yoruko continues, voice still wobbling, and Asuna smiles softly, doing her best to be reassuring.

"No problem, Yoruko-san," she replies, leaning forwards. "Now, Yoruko-san, can you answer some questions from my friend Kazuto?" She says, and she doesn't miss the way Kazuto's face lights up at the term 'friend' despite the dire situation. Yoruko nods, and Asuna stands, switching places with Kazuto and standing by the door, listening intently for intruders or eavesdroppers.

"Now, Yoruko-san," Kazuto says, voice soft as he leans forwards, "I need you to tell me everything you know about what just happened," he says, and Yoruko sniffles, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. "Feel free to take your time, ma'am," he says, "Kizuna and I are here to help you find who did this to your friend."

Yoruko takes a deep, steadying breath, and begins to explain.


	8. the death in the safe-zone part two

"There was no 'Winner!' banner, so it couldn't have been a duel," Kazuto says, voice muffled from where is head is on the table. "But he definitely died!"

"He couldn't have," Asuna reminds him for what feels like the billionth time. "We were in a safe zone." Based off of Kazuto's scowl, Asuna would guess that he's well aware of that fact- and she's just as lost as he is about this.

"Maybe it was the weapon?" Asuna asks, leaning over to pick up the spiked red lance. "I have the best smith in the game on-call, all we would have to do would be pop down to floor 48," she offers, and Kazuto shakes his head.

"I have someone," he says cryptically, and Asuna sighs, shrugging.

"Whatever you think is best, Commander," she says, and it she thinks it's the first time the title has fallen from her lips without a trace of malice.

Kazuto must realize too, because his lips quirk into an infuriatingly charming grin. "Vice commander," he reminds her, and if not for the grim circumstances, Asuna would have smiled back.

She follows Kazuto to a hole-in-the-wall shop on floor 50, where a large man with dark skin is lazily leaning on the counter. He perks up when he sees Kazuto, and as they greet each other Asuna can't help but feel a little out of place.

"Agil, this is Kizuna," Kazuto introduces, and Asuna nods at the merchant. "We need you to appraise something for us- see if it could be used to kill in a safe zone," he explains, and Agil's eyebrows raise.

"Killing in a safe zone is impossible," he says slowly, and Asuna barely holds back her grimace.

"I sure hope so, pal," she says, putting her elbows on the counter. "If you're as good as Kazuto says, then you're the one who can confirm what that weapon can do, but if you don't think you're up to it, we know a blacksmith on floor 48 who'd be happy to help." She closes her eyes and shrugs, before waiting. She hears the sword being lifted from the counter, and opens an eye, grinning when she sees Agil holding the sword, looking disgruntled.

He mumbles something unsavory about her, tapping his interface a couple of times and reading over the screen that pops up above the sword. "It was made by a player named Grimlock, but other than that, it looks like your average sword," he says. "No sign that it should be able to do damage in a safe zone," he explains, and Asuna reaches for the sword, looking over it herself.

"Well, one way to really test it," she says, and before Kazuto or Agil can stop her, she stabs herself through the thigh. She knows that she can't really feel it, but seeing the sword sticking out of the glowing red would on her thigh is still kind of viscerally upsetting- Agil looks sick, and Kazuto is staring at her with wide, horrified eyes.

Asuna's health bar remains in the green, so she pulls the sword out of her leg, examining it curiously. "Huh. So, not the sword," she says, and that's when Kazuto grabs her by the front of her armor. She think's he's going to hit her, or yell at her, or do something bad, but he just yanks her into a hug, squeezing her once before pushing her away.

"What the hell were you thinking, Kizuna!?" he yells, "you could have died!"

His face is red and Agil escaped into his back room the moment Kazuto grabbed her, and normally Kizuna would yell back and defend herself, but all Asuna can do is stare at the boy. His face is hard, but his eyes still have a hint of panic to them, looking back from where the wound on her thigh has already faded to her face.

"I'm sorry," Asuna says quietly, "I wasn't- I didn't know it would upset you so much," she says, and Kazuto seems to deflate, and Asuna steps back, her back bumping against the counter.

"You're my friend, Kizuna," he says, "of course watching you stab yourself like it's no big deal is upsetting. Actually, even if we weren't friends, that probably would have been super upsetting," he says, and Asuna frowns.

"We're friends?" She asks, because she was kind of under the impression that Kazuto tolerated her, rather than liked her. Kazuto looks offended when she tells him as much, but it's better than before- the scared, half-angry panic that was written across the boy's face before is gone, and Asuna is glad, because that look scared her.

It's always only been her and Lisbeth, and Lisbeth doesn't make a habit of wandering into dangerous situations, preferring to stay nice and comfy in her shop while sending Asuna to do the dirty work. But now she has Silica, who has a nasty habit of running right into danger without looking, and Kazuto. She has Kazuto, who fights in one of the biggest guilds on the front lines, who doesn't even use a shield, Kazuto who calls himself her friend.

"We should go talk to Yoruko again, see if she knows this 'Grimlock' guy," Kazuto says, turning and opening the door. He glances over his shoulder at Asuna, mouth quirking up into a grin. "You coming, Kizuna?" he asks, and Asuna starts, nodding and hurrying after him.

They walk together, Asuna still quiet, and Kazuto leans over and bumps his shoulder into hers. "You okay, Kizuna?" he asks, voice full of genuine concern, and Asuna looks back over at him. The computer generated sunlight shines across his face, soft with concern, and Asuna thinks about every time he's shouted that question across a battlefield, every time she's seen him risk his own life for another, about the way he makes her laugh and the way he makes her want to scream. Asuna can't help but be scared, because he risks his life every day in this stupid death game, and she doesn't really know what she'd do if he died. But she's hopeful, too, because they're friends, and Kazuto is brave and smart and he isn't the vice-commander of a top guild because he's lucky; he earned his place.

"I've got your back, you know that, right?" she says, and Kazuto stops walking. Asuna looks at the ground and takes a deep breath, the persona she presents as Kizuna slipping back into place. "You're a reckless idiot, sometimes," she says, and Kazuto looks a little hurt, but she barrels onwards- "but I am too, and I know we've been fighting for months now, but you're right, we're friends, and that means I'm gonna have your back, like it or not," she says, and Asuna is sure she's bright red at this point.

Kazuto pauses for a long moment, looking at Asuna carefully, so she scowls and looks away, face still flushed. "You're really not used to being nice to me, are you?" he asks eventually, but he's smiling, and he laughs as he dodges the fist Asuna flings in his direction. "Alright, alright, I'm sorry!" he laughs, and Asuna can't help but laugh with him. "You too, Kizuna- you have my back, I have yours," he says, laughter trailing into a softer, gentler tone. "Like it or not."


End file.
